Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)
I’m not familiar with the original series of children’s books that Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is based upon. From what I’ve read, it would appear that the film manages to channel the spirit (if you’ll pardon the pun) of the short stories by Alvin Schwartz, via the four supernatural vignettes that feature in the movies plot. Furthermore, the illustrations featured in the original publications, by Stephen Gammell, have obviously influenced the visual effects and production design of the movie. However, despite being marketed as a portmanteau movie, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is much more than that. The framing story is more than just an arbitrary pair of cinematic bookends, designed to wrap around the proceedings. It is entwined into the central narrative and the four supernatural meta stories. Rather than being a pure anthology movie, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is at its heart, a film about the nature and inherent power of stories themselves.
Set in the small town of Mill Valley, Pennsylvania, in 1968, the plot focuses on three high school students. Stella (Zoe Colletti), Chuck (Austin Zajur) and Auggie (Gabriel Rush) go out to celebrate Halloween. When a prank goes wrong, they're chased by the school bully Tommy (Austin Abrams) and forced to hide at the local drive-in. A mysterious drifter Ramón (Michael Garza) let's them hide in his car and in return for his help, they decide to take him to the neighbourhood haunted house; the infamous Bellows Mansion. The town was founded by the Bellows family who grew rich from the paper mill they built. However, local legends state that the Bellows family incarcerated their daughter Sarah and kept her locked in a darkened room. She would whisper ghost stories through the wall to scare the local children. While investigating the derelict mansion, Stalla finds an old book which appears to be Sarah's. She takes it home and while reading it, a new story appears before her very eyes. It appears to be about the local bully Tommy. The following day he is reported as missing. Another story subsequently appears in the book. This time it’s about Auggie. Is the book hunting the three friends?
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark makes the most of its $28 million budget. It has a stylised late sixties production design, along with vivid and colourful lighting. The visual aesthetic of Roman Osin’s cinematography greatly adds to the atmosphere. The youthful cast are engaging and deliver good performances. The screenplay by Dan and Kevin Hageman focuses upon their perspective of events and confines adults characters such as the local Sheriff (Gill Bellows) and Stella’s Father (Dean Norris) to the sidelines. The spectre of the Vietnam War, the national draft and the oppressive nature of small town life also hangs over the proceedings. Our protagonists are on the periphery of the adult world and their respective futures do not look especially good. Posters for Richard Nixon seeking election encapsulate this dismal period in US history. It is against this backdrop that the story explores the power of words and narratives. How they can have both a positive and negative effect. And that adult life is filled with ambiguity and this often manifests itself in the use of nuanced language.
The actual “scary stories” that befall the cast are grim and inherently creepy rather than overtly violent. Yet that is not to say that they are not disturbing. And therein lies the rub or at least has been a talking point associated with this movie. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark despite being drawn from children’s literature, is too ghoulish and frightening for such a young demographic. Despite being rated PG-13 in the US, the BBFC saw fit to award it a 15 rating in the UK and a lot of that simply comes down to tone. Something that you cannot address by re-editing. Hence we have a story about teenagers having to deal with the supernatural, which is potentially of more interest to adult viewers, rather than its target audience. Gore hounds of all ages will be disappointed. However, despite this possible contradiction, the film still performed acceptably at the box office and may well garner a sequel. The story certainly has scope for one.
Because of the pedigree of all associated with this production, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark makes for absorbing viewing and superior genre entertainment. The assured direction by André Øvredal (Trollhunter, The Autopsy of Jane Doe) offers not only a series of grim supernatural tales but also a degree of emotional intelligence and metaphorical depth. The adult world is not as black and white as our heroes think and coming of age is often bittersweet. Where The Monster Squad explored such themes through horror and humour, this movie achieves it with ghosts and melancholy. The ending resolves the immediate plot but does not deliver a textbook happy ending. The surviving characters are changed and realise that their future lies outside of Mill Valley. I would definitely like to know what happens next and see the central characters progress on their emotional journey. The answers to which lies in Sarah Bellow’s book of stories. I hope it is opened again.
